Washington -The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing implementation of Phase Six of the Lacey Act enforcement schedule will begin on Oct. 1, 2021. Phase Six will require a plant import declaration for additional products such as essential oils and wooden pallets that are imported into the United States. APHIS delayed implementation of Phase Six in fall 2020 in response to stakeholder concerns about operational and economic setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This action gave stakeholders additional time to recover from the impacts of the pandemic and to prepare for implementation of the requirement. With this requirement, the declaration must contain, among other things, the scientific name of the plant, value of importation, quantity of the plant, and name of the country from which the plant was taken.
APHIS ensures compliance with the declaration requirement as part of its mission to protect the health and value of American agriculture and natural resources and began phasing in the requirements on April 1, 2009.
APHIS is making the announcement via notice in the Federal Register on July 2, 2021. The action will be effective Oct. 1,2021. To view the notices and the comments we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov, and enter APHIS-2008-0119-0329 in the Search field.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
